Hearts of Courage
by omgg8764
Summary: The 74th Hunger Games are about to begin, and Serena Ross has a guaranteed win. One step farther than a career, Sydney was born, bred, and genetically designed to win the games, a sign of the Capitol's control over all of Panem. Nothing can stand in her way, until she makes a new friend in the girl on fire. Dual perspectives and Katniss/Peeta to come in future chapters!
1. Chapter 1

Note: The 74th Hunger Games are about to begin, and Serena Ross has a guaranteed win. One step farther than a career, Sydney was born, bred, and genetically designed to win the games, a sign of the Capitol's control over all of Panem. Nothing can stand in her way, until she makes a new friend, the girl on fire. Serena's beliefs are turned on end, and she finds the courage to fight the people who have controlled her for far too long. Dual perspectives to come, with plenty of Peeta and Katniss love as always. Rate and review.

It was odd that the ocean chose today to be calm. Usually I would walk into the surf and be knocked back, unable to make it to where I couldn't stand. The water pushed against me, pulled me back and forth, unsure of whether or not it wanted me in or out. I reveled in it, enjoying a force that could push me past my breaking point. Today, however, there were no waves, no pull, barely a current. Today the ocean had taken a break when I most wanted it to put me out of my misery.

Plunging my head beneath the water, I put one arm in front of the other, taking slow, rhythmic breaths. I hadn't slept much the night before, so I swam until the sun came up and my muscles burned. I used to think that if I swam for long enough, ran hard enough, or sparred until I wanted to faint that my body would fail. It became a game; testing the limits of the power they had given me. I had yet to find something to crack the Capitol's genetic engineering, and even I was impressed.

Finally, I saw the sun peak above the horizon and knew I had to get out and shower. Today was about me, after all. I waded to the shore and collapsed on the sand, letting my breath come in slow, even gulps. To most people, a twelve-mile swim would mean a day of naps and ice. To me, it was a warm-up to prepare me for the two-week extravaganza I was about to enter. In a matter of days, I wouldn't just be fighting the water; I would be fighting other people. Killing other people. No, not people. Children. Children just like me.

The thought made me shudder, and I pulled my knees to my chest, letting the water lap against my feet. I heard feet shuffling across the sand, and smiled a little without turning around.

"You're about to miss you're coming out party." Jake plopped down on the sand next to me. He was wearing board shorts and his hair was wet.

"So are you, apparently. Not even coming to say goodbye?"

"I just got off work! Our parents wanted me to make sure you came back to the house with enough time to shower."

"Got to start impressing the sponsors right away, don't I?" I said, trying to laugh. Instead, my voice cracked, and Jake put his arm around me.

"Hey, it's going to be alright."

"What if I can't do this? They want me to go out there and murder other kids, to prove that they can create the perfect human being. I'm supposed to be the winner, and I know that none of those other kids have a chance, but what if I can't kill someone? I've heard it gets easier once you get in there, but right now I just…I don't feel it."

Jake turned me to face him. "Serena, you control these games. No matter what anyone says, this is your show. From the moment you raise your hand to volunteer to the second that crown is placed on your head, you control your own destiny." He looked back out towards the ocean. "And it's sick. The Capitol is sending twenty-three other kids to their deaths, and they expect you to just be fine with it. It's sick."

"But I guess it doesn't matter what we think. Not really."

"Of course it matters." Jake said. "You have a chance to make these games mean something. To make this year different."

"What do you mean?"

He stood up and held a hand out for me. "Whatever happens in there, Serena, never forget yourself. You have a heart and a soul and a brain. You're not one of their mindless slaves."

"Noted." I said.

"Just…" He looked at the sand and shook his head. My older brother, who always knew what to say, was speechless. "Just remember who the real enemy is." Jake said. Then he started walking back towards our house. Sighing, I followed after him, unsure of what to make of his words.

Three hours later, I was standing in the fourth row of a crowd of kids, aged twelve to eighteen. Girls on the left, boys on the right. Normally, there was an air of fear, or pride, or anticipation. I would hear the girls around me whisper while I waited to go home, knowing it wasn't my time yet. For them, the reaping was a game of chance. For me, every year was a ticking time bomb, and in a few minutes, it was set to go off.

The anthem of Panem played in the background, and an odd looking man with an overly flamboyant voice appeared in front of the microphone. "Well isn't that wonderful." He said, his sly smile piercing his face and curling up to his cheeks. He looked exactly like I imagined someone from the Capitol would, though I knew soon enough I'd find out for sure.

"Ladies first." He said, a little too excited for the grim nature of the reaping.

I wasn't sure how these ceremonies progressed in other districts, but in four people were buzzing. The kids were nervous, but the adults were sipping bubbly drinks from rose-colored glasses and clutching each other's elbows. Part of me thought those who had children wished they would get called up, a chance for glory and honor in their name, not to mention enough money to wipe their ass with a hundred dollar bill.

Money had never been an issue in my life. As a payment, I assumed, for my services to the Capitol and my parents offering me up as a science experiment, the fifth in a long line of plant tributes, we never wanted for anything. My brother and I had both gone to a career academy, though he, five years my senior, had never worried about being reaped. Another perk of having me as a child. These things were promised to my parents in exchange for my life, or at least that was how it looked to me. There was a chance, a small chance, but a chance nonetheless, that I would die in the arena. It had never happened before, but the thought still ate away at me.

The other tributes didn't scare me. They weren't nearly good enough to get one shot in on me, let alone to kill me. But I had seen ice arenas and desert storms and even a case where a man electrified six careers at once. Not everything out there was under my control, and it was the intangibles that made my heart pound.

I stood very still as our wonderful Capitol guide stepped up to an enormous bowl with hundreds of slips of paper inside it. Supposedly some people had their name in there more than once, a way to get more food or something. Four was mostly a wealthy district, and the people I hung around with had no idea what the history books meant by tesserae. Once I had thought about looking it up, had even asked my father, but he had laughed and said that no one who signed up for tesserae had a chance of winning anyway, so I shouldn't concern myself with the topic.

"And our female tribute is…" He held out for the suspense, but everyone in the district knew who the tribute would be. They had been waiting for this year, the year their daughter would be safe because it was Serena Ross's turn to win the games. "Melanie Crip!"

The girl was standing behind me, and started her slow walk up the path. When she passed, she didn't even meet my eye, just had a slow smile on her face, not worried for a second when she shook Finnick Odair's hand. Finally, she looked right at me, and the whole district paused.

It angered me that she didn't even worry. She just assumed I would step up, just knew she was safe while I would have to step up and murder twenty three people just to see my home again. I thought again about what Jake had said this morning. I controlled these games. They couldn't make me volunteer, couldn't force me into this. If I just let Melanie, whose snarky glances tortured the uglier girls in school but who had always looked at me in awe, go into that arena and die, I could hold out for next year.

Then I saw my family. My mother and father and brother were standing on the edge of the crowd staring at me. If I didn't fulfill my duty, didn't step up at the ripe age of seventeen and take the crown for district four, something horrible would happen to them, to all of us. I didn't particularly love my parents, with their fake smiles and they icy stares and unloving nature, but I did love my brother. He had protected me for as long as I could remember, and I couldn't let anything happen to him.

Yet I still couldn't help but laugh at how Melanie began to squirm in place, her eyes growing wide and glaring at me. So I stepped forward and grinned. "I volunteer as tribute." I said, and started my walk towards the podium.

The crowd erupted in cheers and the anthem of Panem started to play. This year would be a victory for district four. I would bring honor to everyone, and they would never deal with the guilt. But I would, and the thought made my stomach churn; yet I grasped Melanie's hand.

"Nervous?" I said, feeling her sweaty palms in mine.

She giggled. "I knew you would volunteer. Good luck." She said over her shoulder, then made her way back to her friends. She set that fake smile on her face again, but I saw the fear there. Fear and relief. With me gone, Melanie was free to rein queen over the academy, to be the most beautiful girl in four again.

"Now for the men." The Capitol man said as Finnick Odair stepped up and shook my hand.

"Nice to meet you." He said, though we had met before. "Are you ready?"

Finnick had an easy smile, but it was too slick, like he wanted me to divulge my deepest personal secrets to him. He had won ten years ago at the tender age of fourteen, the youngest to ever do so. I heard he was great with a trident, but I was almost sure I could kill him in a matter of minutes.

"Born ready." I smiled at him. "Or made ready. Maybe that's more accurate."

The crowd cheered again as a small boy I didn't recognize walked towards the podium, his face green. The claps were common curtsey, nowhere near the volume my applause had been. We shook hands, but he knew he was a goner. He stood next to his own mentor, trying to hold back tears.

My stomach turned again. The kid was reasonably well built, but clearly from a poorer neighborhood in four. Probably the son of a fisherman or a welder. He didn't go to the academy, which meant he had no experience fighting. I took solace in the fact that even if it hadn't been my year, he would never have survived.

They ushered us through a set of double doors and into a long, narrow hallway. Finnick opened a door to my right.

"Time to say goodbye." He said. "I'll see you on the train."

I didn't like how he looked at me, with contempt and a little anger. I was sure he was thinking about how he had won his games honestly, about how terrified he had been during the reaping, and how I didn't seem afraid at all. Because I wasn't afraid. I was angry and bitter and sad, but not afraid. There was nothing for me to be afraid of.

My parents burst through the room, Jake trailing behind them. My father clapped his arm on my shoulder, and my mother kissed my cheeks like she would one of her rich girlfriends.

"Make us proud." He said, crossing his arms, a cocky smile on his cheeks. His dark blue eyes didn't even meet mine as he checked his phone for missed business calls, like he couldn't take six seconds to send his daughter off to war.

"We'll see you in two weeks sweetie." My mother pursed her lips. "Of course."

Her blonde girls bounced on her head, falling over her shoulders in waves. All I wanted was to get away from them and their smiles, which seemed to infect me and every surface in this damp government room. Sometimes I wasn't even sure I was related to them.

Jake shared my parents' dark blue eyes and platinum blonde hair. My own locks were light, light brown, with streaks of gold, not close to the bright blonde of my parents and brother, and my eyes were shimmering amber, the gold matching my hair. They always told me it was a result of the experiments, but sometimes I swore I was adopted.

Of course we had all been graced with good looks. Girls flocked to Jacob, even if he didn't want the attention, and I had been hit on more times than I could remember. After all, I couldn't just act like a victor. I had to look like one, like Finnick Odair and his perfect teeth. I was tall and lean and gorgeous, everything the Capitol ever wanted.

Jake walked up and wrapped his arms around me, and I buried my face in his chest. "Just remember what I said. I love you so much, Serena. No matter what happens in there, I'll be proud of you." He whispered.

"I love you too, J." I said. For the first time, I wanted to cry, but I held back. It wasn't for the right reasons. Bobby in the next room was probably crying. Twenty-three other tributes could cry, but I didn't have the right to.

"You act like she won't return, son. Step back and let her go. Serena has to make us proud." There that saying was again, hanging in the air.

"Will do." I stepped around them, squeezing Jake's hand one more time. "See you." I shrugged, wondering how those other tributes could possibly be sad to see their families go.

Finnick accompanied me to the train, and Bobby got on after me, hiccupping and trying to hide his tears. We all sat down together. Bobby's mentors, an elderly woman named Mags and a sharp middle aged man named Clark, spoke with Finnick near a large television screen. Our Capitol guide, whose name was Magnus, took a sip of brightly colored liquid and clapped his hands again.

"Well, lets get started then." He said, and went off to tell the driver to leave.

As I felt the train shift under me, I looked out the window as district four disappeared before my eyes. Soon we were rolling through green hills, and the ocean was turning into a small slit before my eyes. I kept reminding myself that I would see it again, and then almost throwing up when I realized Bobby wouldn't.

"So where are you from?" I turned to ask him. "North side?"  
"West. Past seventy fourth and through the bayou." He had a slight accent that some of the fisherman wore. He flinched away from my words like he was afraid I would kill him right there with one of the dull butter knives on our table. I resolved not to harm him. There would be plenty of other people who could do that, and I didn't want to have to go home and look those people in the eye every day.

"I used to run out there." I said, trying to lighten the conversation. "It kind of smells—"

"Like oysters and old clams." He wiped his nose on the back of his hand. "That's my home."

"I was going to say like fresh air, like seafood and summer and hard work. But I guess oysters and old clams work." That made him laugh, and I almost wanted to shrink away from him. Thinking about my competitors as real people would make this so much harder. The trainers had always told us to just give them a number. Name them based on their district. That way they're easier to kill.

"Alright." Finnick called our attention to him and clicked the screen on. "All of the reapings are completed, so we can start evaluating your competition. For this initial part of your induction, the two of you will work mostly in tandem. Once we reach the Capitol, we'll separate."

Images of the other reapings started to play on the screen. A large blonde boy from one volunteered, while I strong candidate from two fought for his right to compete when someone tried to take his place. Those were the only two districts I cared about, the only ones who could offer real competition to me, and even then I was too confident to be shaken. The careers looked like idiots this year. It wasn't the strength you had to worry about, but the intelligence.

As predicted, districts three through seven held no one significant. Eight had a girl who looked sharp, like she was sneaky, and I reminded myself to keep an eye on her. Eleven had a rather large kid who could be a career if he were born a thousand miles from where he lived. Then there was a little girl, only twelve years old, who didn't shed a single tear.

I almost told Finnick to turn off the screen before it got to twelve. No one interesting had ever come from twelve. They had two Victors in the entire history of the Hunger Games. One was a drunk and one was dead. Their reaping called forth another twelve year old, this one with twin braids and enormous eyes. I felt pity in the pit of my stomach as she began to walk towards the stage. Once again, I would let someone else kill her.

Then something shifted in the crowd. An older girl stepped forward and volunteered for her. Everyone in our car shifted. Even Bobby finally took interest. No one ever volunteered from an outlying district. This girl embraced her savior, then walked forward and took her place on stage.

"Pause it." I said when the camera panned to her face.

The look on it chilled me. She had sharp grey eyes, and her hair was pulled back into a braid. There was no hint of fear or hesitation in her eyes. She looked determined. To do what, I wasn't sure, but there was something about her that made me stop.

"What's her name?"

Finnick looked at me, then at the tablet in his hands. "You're not very good at following advice, are you?" He said. "What's our first strategy?"

"Well, I'm not talking to her, am I? So I asked you, what is her name?"

Finnick rolled his eyes. "Katniss." He said. "Katniss Everdeen."

The name sounded so familiar, but I didn't know anyone from twelve. It was the kind of memory you have when you read a book when you were little. But I couldn't remember anything from before my transformation. A side effect that I didn't totally understand, but didn't care about as much as the incredible pain I had gone through.

"Twelve." I laughed. "Who would've thought?"

"Does it really matter?" Bobby muttered as Finnick continued the tape, his eyes trained on Katniss Everdeen.

Another boy was called forward, and he looked afraid, but that wasn't what threw me. It was how he looked at her, the girl standing on stage in front of him. It was almost like he was more afraid of her, or perhaps for her. He looked at her like he would never want to or be able to kill her. I didn't know how I knew, but I had gotten good at sizing people up.

"No." I answered Bobby. "No it doesn't."


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Here's chapter two, so rate and review.

If twelve was nervous, she wasn't showing it. I leaned against the side of my chariot, my gold dress flowing around my ankles and suffocating me, despite it being strapless. The girl from twelve, Katniss, whose name I couldn't stop repeating, was standing with her mentor and the boy from her district, and I crossed my arms while I watched her.

Finnick came over, chewing on a sugar cube and stroking the horses mane. "Focus, Ross." He purred. "You're show is about to start."

"Yeah." I said. "Hey listen, how does the whole allies thing work?"

"You pair up with the career pack." Finnick said. "Then you kill them in the end. At least, that's how most plants operate. If you'd like to switch it up, please be my guest. The games with you people are always so short and boring." He rolled his eyes.

When I looked back at twelve, I found that she was looking at me, So I smirked at her and turned back to Finnick. "I promise I'll try to make things interesting."

"Whatever you say, Serena." He held up a hand to help me onto my chariot, then waved to the mentor from twelve.

"You know him?" I asked.

"We all sort of run in the same circle. Broken souls club, you know." Finnick smiled.

I laughed. Finnick Odair was nothing like my previous teachers. He was laid back but ruthless, less concerned with me winning as he was with eating sugar cubes and wooing women. When I had asked him why, he said my fate was set in stone. He was just there if I needed advice, not to dole out judgment and act like my father.

Bobby came over, dressed in a golden getup that showed too much of his pale skin. Our stylists were traditionalists, but they had clearly spent way more time on me.

"Here we go." He said, his hands shaking against the chariots handle.

"Look, Bobby—" I started, but he shook his head.

"Should I smile? Or try to look tough?"  
I chuckled. "Smile. You may win them over that way."

"Watch out." He said. "I might take your sponsors away."

"You just might." I said. I could see Finnick over his shoulder. His gaze was heavy. It was the first time I had seen him without a cocky grin on his face, and it unsettled me. When he saw me looking, he winked and waved.

Our chariot began to move, and we faced forward. As soon as we pulled out, the crowd erupted in cheers. Bobby was smiling, and Jake had always told me it was my best asset, so I followed suit. Giving them my best toothy smile. When I raised my arm, holding it in a first, then nearly jumped out of their seats. As Finnick had said, I was already a Capitol darling.

We pulled into the circle just as twelve was pulling onto the track. At first glance, I almost gasped, and my smile dropped. They were literally on fire. Flames trailed from each of their outfits and onto the chariot, but the two of them were smiling, their hands clasped and raised together. The girl looked like she wasn't used to the way a smile feels on your face, but the Capitol was eating it up.

"Well, if I don't take your sponsors, she might." Bobby whispered.

My eyes narrowed as she passed. It wasn't likely. I already had them lined up before I had even volunteered, but that didn't mean they couldn't back more than one person. President Snow got up on the podium, but I kept my eyes on the chariot from twelve. For some reason, I found myself fixated on that girl, on Katniss, who I couldn't seem to think of as just a number, and I wasn't sure why.

Some people opted to hide their strength during training. I decided that was not the best idea. They were already afraid of me, of the rumors, of the plant. Now I had to prove that their worries were justified, and as I took down the tenth trainer in under two minutes with a simple sweep kick and a kick to the throat, I could sense the fear in the room.

Even the careers from one and two, who were gathered by the spears, watching me and nodding when I looked at them, were afraid behind their confident masks. Everyone seemed to have his or her eyes on me, except for Katniss Everdeen. She had been staring, but her eyes weren't wide, weren't afraid, they were careful. She wasn't just seeing that I was dangerous, she was seeing my weaknesses. Luckily for me, there weren't any.

After I was finished, something pulled me towards that knot station. I had to figure this girl out, and I wasn't going to do it from observing. Everyone else may have been willing to believe I was a guaranteed win, but I took no chances with my future.

"Double turn and out the other side." I said, leaning against the table as she fiddled with the rope in her hands. She almost dropped it, startled, but tried so hard not to let it show.

At first she just grunted, her eyes focused on the knot in front of her, refusing to take my advice. So I picked up a piece of rope and tapped her shoulder so she was looking at me, then tied the same knot she was trying to do. Her eyes narrowed.

"So not only are you apparently a genetically engineered killer, but you're also an expert camper."

"Not to mention funny, intelligent, and incredibly good looking." I finished for her. "So you've heard of me?"

"Who hasn't?" Twelve said. "You're this years winner, right?"

"Not necessarily." I said. "If you can get me from far away, I'm dead meat." I said. "I'm not the best shot."

She clenched her jaw. "Giving away your weaknesses. You are cocky."

"I have reason to be." I said.

Katniss rolled her eyes and picked up another rope, but I wasn't about to end our conversation there.

"So I told you my weaknesses. How about you tell me yours?" No answer. "Or how about we start with strengths. I'm a pretty good fighter. And you've walked past that bow and arrow station six times in the past hour. Each time your head does this little twitch that seems to suggest you're hiding something. Mentor telling you to play it close to the vest?"

"You're too smart for me." Katniss said. "Does everyone know?" Her eyes flickered to the careers.

"Are you serious?" I laughed. "One and two are all too dense to pick up on anything besides how far their dummy is from their spear. A bow is too elegant for them. Too…impersonal."

"Flatter me before you kill me." Katniss put her knot down. "Seems like a solid strategy."

"You might be safer than you think." I said. "Maybe I'm not who they all say I am."

"And whose that?"

"A heartless killer with only one goal: the end the games as soon as possible."

"You want them to go on forever?"  
"If they're over in a day, it's more of a slaughter than a competition. What fun is that?"

I started to walk away, feeling her eyes on me. "And my name is Serena, by the way. Serena Ross."

"I'm Katniss." She called after me. "Everdeen. Maybe if you know my name, you'll hesitate."

I didn't bother turning around. In five minutes, I had learned most of what I needed to know about Katniss Everdeen. I could feel the career's eyes trained on me. When I reached them, I gave a smile and stopped. The largest one, a tall blonde from district two, held his hand out.

"No need to waste time on stragglers." He said. "I'm Cato. This is Marvel, Clove, and Glimmer. Figure if we're going to be allies, we should start planning soon."

"Right." I nodded. "Well, I've got a lot to think about, so I'm going to head out for the night. I've learned enough for one day."

The four of them stood rooted in place as I made my way to the elevator. That wasn't how they expected our first meeting to go, but I was determined not to let anyone get comfortable. The safer they felt, the sloppier they got, and then they lost their only purpose: doing my dirty work.

Somehow I always managed to be five minutes late to every event. At first it had been accidental. I would forget something or have to turn back halfway to wherever I was going. Then I started to realize that people waited for me, that me being late gave me the upper hand. My parents said it showed people who was in charge.

I certainly wasn't in charge here, and I had sprinted down the steps in order to get my place in line for the interviews. The crowd was already cheering, presumably for the haughty show put on by Cato or the sweet words that spilled from Glimmer's mouth. When I reached the tunnel, I slowed down, took a few slow breaths, then made my way out.

"Good luck." I whispered to Katniss as I passed her. Peeta, the male tribute from twelve, looked at me and gulped, so I gave him a wink and stood in front of Bobby.

"Close call." He said.

"You almost had to go on without me." I said. "What ever would you do?"

"From District Four, Serena Ross!" I heard Caesar Flickerman call from the stage.

Straightening my back, I took one last deep breath, then plastered a smile on my face and took my first steps.

"Knock 'em dead." Bobby whispered from behind me.

For some reason, my throat closed a little. Bobby was being kind to me, despite the fact that he knew he didn't have a chance of winning. He had been kind since the beginning, sharing his observations on the other tributes when we were in training and cracking jokes at dinner. The kid was accepting death graciously, and I decided not to be the one to kill him. Someone else could hold that on their conscious.

When I stepped on stage, the crowd went crazy. They got to their feet and hollered, cheering my name and chanting victor. Already they were invested in my win, and they were probably already counting their coins. The thought made me a little bit sick, and my smile dropped as I tried to hold choke back bile.

"So Sydney." Caesar said as I sat down. "Tell us about yourself."

"Well, I'm seventeen and single, so make sure you take this number down." I opened my mouth as if to begin, and the crowd erupted in laughter. "O, you mean as a tribute." I chuckled. "Sorry Caesar, I got ahead of myself."

The words fell from my mouth like a script. Not only had I been trained physically, I had been shaped and molded mentally, told what to say and how to say in in order to win over a crowd. I wondered if all plant tributes felt this guilty as they sat on the stage.

Caesar and I joked, back and forth about my home life and my upbringing, scooting around my genetic past and the possibility that my very existence was cheating the system.

"Any plans for the arena?" He asked.

"Well, I'm pretty strong, so I think I'll mainly go off of that." I said. Another laugh and a wink.

"Well! Who would have guessed." He reached over and squeezed my upper arm. "How about friends? Made any?"

I pursed my lips. "If you could call them that, but I'm not sure yet. I like to keep my options open."

"O really?" The crowd had gone silent. I could heard Caesar's tight breathing next to me.

The whole room seemed to take a pause. They were waiting for me to laugh it off, to say I knew my team, to admit that I had already chosen who would live and who would die. My training told me to say that, told me to give in. But for some reason, I couldn't. My mouth wouldn't move like that, wouldn't form the words.

Instead, I went with: "Let's just say things are going to be different this year."

Caesar raised his eyebrows. "Different?"

I nodded. "Very different."

That night I stood on the roof of the tribute building and waited. I waited for the storm to come, for the eye to pass and the wind to blow. It was the last free night I would have. For this one night, no deaths would be on my conscious, no lives lost at my hand. It was a relaxing thought.

As I stared down at the people milling about the Capitol streets, drunk on expensive liquor and the spirit of the games, I wondered what they would do if one of their own was thrown in the arena. Would they support them? What if the tribute was weak instead of strong? The districts always support their tributes, no matter what size or ability level they are. I doubted the Capitol citizens would react the same way.

I heard footsteps from behind me and turned around. The boy from twelve stood at the top of the steps. When he saw me, he stopped.

"Sorry, I didn't realize someone was here." He said. "Ignore me."

"No, no, it's ok." I insisted. "I'm almost done here."

He paused for a second, then shrugged and headed over to the window. "What are you doing?" He asked. It struck me as odd that he didn't sound afraid. Even when twelve talked to me she seemed cautious. This boy was either way too trusting or ready to die.

"Pondering my impending doom."

"Sure." He said. "Because there's a chance you'll die tomorrow."

"You never know." I said.

"You've got the brute brigade at your side. Just use one as a human shield."

"The careers?" I asked. "How can you be so sure? We haven't even been properly introduced."

"I'm Peeta." He said. "Mellark. District Twelve. But you already knew that."

He held out a hand, and I shook it. You can tell a lot about a person from their handshake. Peeta Mellark's was sturdy, like he was used to it. His hands were slightly calloused, but the palms were soft, like he worked with them normally, but hadn't in a while. When I looked into his eyes, I saw something familiar. It was like meeting an old friend. They were bright blue, and very trustworthy.

"Serena Ross." I answered.

"If you're not sure about the careers, you should ally with Katniss."

"Ah, so you want me to keep your girlfriend safe for you."

"She's not my—" He started. "She doesn't share my feelings."

"So she took it that well when you declared your undying love for her on national television the day before you were both sent into a killing arena? I mean, I appreciate the bravado, but I think any girl would be freaked out."

"She threw me into a vase. Or pushed me into a vase." He shook his head. "Look, it doesn't matter. Just consider it."

"For once I read you wrong." I said. "Here I thought it was all just a big lie."

"I've loved her since I was six years old." Peeta said. "But I've never had the courage to say anything. I figure I'm going to die in the next week, so what the hell."

I narrowed my eyes and gazed back out at the Capitol. At the time, I hadn't really known what to make of Peeta's declaration. It was a bold strategy, if that was the deal. It made Katniss Everdeen desirable, when her own interview hadn't gone as well as she had hoped. Finnick had suggested they were trying to gain sympathy, steal away our more compassionate supporters. He had even suggested they were trying to get into my head.

"There isn't really a better time." I said.

"Just think about it. She's honest and loyal. She won't betray you, not like the careers."

Peeta started to walk away, and I groaned.

"I can't do this on my own." I said. "I don't think Ms. Personality is going to take kindly to me being her ally. She probably doesn't trust her own mother, let alone some girl who was born to kill her. I need time. And I need to keep the careers distracted."

Peeta shrugged. "I would offer to help, but I think they want me about as much as Katniss wants you."

"They've mentioned your name. Survive the Cornucopia and go with them. Keep them away from me and from Katniss. Tell them you saw me get injured and run into the woods after someone. I'll go make nice with your girlfriend."

Peeta walked back towards me and stared me in the eyes. "I have no idea why I trust you, Serena Ross, but I trust you." He held out a hand, which I shook.

"So I guess this makes us allies." He said. He smiled. Peeta Mellark had an incredible smile. I decided that I wouldn't kill him either.

"I guess it does." I answered. "I was right. These games are going to be different."

I jumped off the windowsill and patted his shoulder, letting my hand linger. For some reason that touch had a way with men. He stiffened underneath my hand.

"See you tomorrow." I said with a wave behind me. "And Happy Hunger Games."


	3. Chapter 3

When the timer hit ten, I let myself panic. Until it hit one, I would let go for just a second. I would wonder about the past and the future, and I doubted myself one final time, so I wouldn't be able to once the games began.

_Ten._ I wondered where my family was right about now. Could they see me grit my teeth? Would they watch my eyes scan the cornucopia, looking for the right weapon?

_Nine._ Was Snow watching? I wondered if he was betting on me. His smile appeared on the insides of my eyelids as I blinked.

_Eight_. I saw Katniss shift her weight forward. Where was her family? What about Bobby's? Were they worried? Did they know their children weren't going to make it out of this alive?

_Seven._ Peeta's eyes met mine, and I nodded. I wondered how long that alliance would last.

_Six. _My mind refocused. I saw the field in front of me, the fastest path to a backpack, then out into the woods. I would be able to see Katniss move. I would be able to follow her.

_Five._ Cato's on my left. The rest of the career's are on my right, split in half by the cornucopia.

_Four._ There's the sword, here is my moment.

_Three. _I felt Finnick's arm on my shoulder this morning as he sent me off into the hovercraft. _You'll be alright, Harper. Remember who the real enemy is. _

_ Two. _That was what my brother had said. I wasn't as concerned with the enemy. I was concerned with myself. The last thing I wanted was for these games to change me.

_One. _But I was kidding myself. The games had to change you. That was the point, after all.

A loud beep signified that the motion traps were off, and we were free. Twenty four kids jumped from their platforms and sprinted. Some grabbed the nearest pack and headed towards the woods. One boy didn't make it five feet into the cornucopia before Cato snapped his neck. A cannon fired in the distance.

I reached the middle before anyone else. Slinging a sword around my back and a pack around my shoulder, I turned back to try and find twelve. What I found instead was chaos. Mass panic and chaos.

Two boys were wrestling for a spear. Peeta was fighting off a girl who had tried to take his backpack from him. I saw a tall kid from seven pick up another spear and aim it right at Peeta's back. There was another short sword at my feet and I picked it up, hurling it straight towards my target.

It connected, hitting him straight through the back. He stopped mid-throw, and the spear clattered to the ground. It was like he was falling in slow motion, and I realized that I had just claimed my first victim. Another cannon fired, and Peeta shoved the girl off of him, letting her have his pack in exchange for his life.

He turned just in time to see the boy from seven falling towards the ground. I walked over and put one foot on the boy's back, then yanked the sword out from underneath him. Peeta looked up at me, his face pale. I was only bothered by the fact that I wasn't bothered. My stomach lurched for a moment, but I had always known this was how it would be.

Just then movement from the right side of my field of vision drew my attention. Katniss was running off into the woods, holding up a pack to avoid knives thrown in her direction. I noticed a career's sights trained on her and turned back to Peeta.

"Distract them, huh? Take them in any direction but that one." I said.

"Will do. Or will try to do, at least." He said. "Stay safe, Serena."

"You too. Try not to die right away. I might think twice about your judgment call."

Peeta's head shaking back and forth was the last thing I saw before I turned and took off for the woods. The path I chose was to the left of where Katniss had actually gone. I needed to make sure the careers didn't think that I was abandoning them. If we ever met, I needed it to seem like I had lost them in the shuffle, at least until I figured out how to deal with them.

Once I hit the woods, the sounds of the cornucopia dissipated to a muffled rumble behind me. I heard several other cannons, and hoped again that one of them wasn't Peeta. His love for Katniss was sickening yet endearing, and the only soft spot in my heart had somehow been reserved for them as a result of his speech.

I heard a groan and dropped to the ground, pulling my sword out from its sheath on my back and buckling the chest strap of my pack. Someone else was nearby, and I held my breath to listen for them.

The next sound was like a wounded, dying animal, and for a second I thought maybe that was what it was. The blood trail was only inches from where I crouched. Twigs and leaves were bent to the side like someone had tried to crawl away. There wasn't a lot of blood, so I tread carefully towards whatever was near me.

The next groan was more of a cry, and I knew that whatever I was after was human. I emerged into a slight clearing, and in front of me was a body.

"Bobby?" I let my sword fall to my side. He was lying on his side facing away from me. His fists were clenched at his sides, and a knife stuck out from his lower back. "Holy shit."

I ran over and knelt down next to him. If it were anyone else, I would have left them. But I could see Bobby's slight smile and innocent blue eyes. I saw the look on his face when he said goodbye to his parents, when he shook my hand, when he knew he was going to die. There was no way I could just let him lie here.

"Hey, hey, its ok." I said, trying to quiet his groans and looking around to see if anyone could hear us. "Bobby, can you hear me?"

Carefully, I rolled him onto his back a little, letting his head, neck and upper back rest on my knees. The bleeding from his back seemed to have stopped, and I considered taking out the knife.

"Listen, I'm going to take this out, alright? It should be—"

"Serena." He choked, chuckling. "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. You should have a chance at least. Just let me take it out."

When I reached down, he moved his left hand to grab mine, gently, gritting his teeth. "I can't feel my legs, Serena."

I looked at his lower body. His muscles weren't twitching or moving, and I realized why he had to crawl. The knife had paralyzed him. I reached up and pushed his hair back behind his ears. Bobby had tan skin, probably from years working in the shipping yard. His hair was dark, like his older brother's, who had gone to school with me for a few years. He was a quiet kid, like Bobby. They didn't belong here. None of them did.

"I need you to kill me." Bobby said, pulling my attention back to him.

"What? No. I'm not going to kill you." I said, remembering the promise I had made to myself. "We can figure this out. I'll just pull it out and—"

"I'm not going to win this, Serena. I was never going to win, even with four working limbs. You knew that. Even if you didn't want to admit it you knew. And I need you to kill me, because I know you have mercy, and I know that despite what everyone says about plants, you're not a monster. Please. Have mercy on me, Serena. Please. "

Everything he said was right, but I had promised myself not to kill him. This wasn't my fault, really. None of it was my fault. But here I was, watching Bobby die a slow and painful death. I couldn't guarantee anyone else would find him, and if they did, they wouldn't know how to make his death painless. If it were Cato, he'd probably put extra effort into torturing this kid who had one day of bad luck.

Nodding, I grabbed the knife from the side pocket of my backpack. "Are you sure you want this?"

"You could do me no greater kindness." Bobby managed to smile. "I'm going home, Serena. I'll be ok."

I pulled the knife up above his chest. Right before I was about to pull it down, I took a breath, and Bobby held my hand again. "Remember what I said. You're not a machine. You're not a monster. Don't let them change that about you. Don't let them destroy this person, because I think she's pretty cool."

"Those are the last words you want to say to the person who is about to murder you?"

"You're not murdering me. You're saving me. Look at that. You're a hero." He said.

"Anything you want me to say to anyone?" I said. I could feel tears welling up behind my eyes, but I wouldn't let myself cry for him. Not while he was still here, not while he was still alive.

Bobby shook his head. "They know how much I love them. They know."

Then he closed his eyes, and I knew it was time. With one more deep breath, I pulled the knife down into Bobby's heart. I had been taught so many times how to do it, the exact place to hit for a perfect kill. What they never taught you was how it felt to hold someone as they died. It took him just about thirty seconds. He didn't squirm or struggle, but it was like his soul was being lifted out of him. Bobby struggled to breath, and at the last second, his eyes shut open. His body wanted to live, but he was gone before his heart stopped beating.

When it was over, I just sat there with him on my lap and listened to the echo of the cannon. Then I closed his eyes and wiped my nose on my sleeve, letting his body fall to the ground. There were tears at the brim of my eyes, but they wouldn't fall, or I wouldn't let them, I wasn't sure which it was. A noise whirred above my head and I stepped back as a basket was lowered. Bobby's body was scooped up like a sack of sand, and the last I saw of him was a hand dangling down towards me. The games had begun, and already I realized that no one could possibly prepare me for this.

Katniss' POV

Sometimes being the girl on fire isn't all its cracked up to be. Like when you're sitting in a tree twenty feet off the ground, with your leg on fire, waiting to see if a pack of careers figure out a way to climb it and kill you.

"Give me that." I heard the largest one, Cato, growl at the girl with the blond hair.

I looked down in time to see him pull back the bow string and shoot, but it was off aim, and he wasn't holding the arrow closely enough to his cheek, so he missed wide right.

"Is that all you've got? Impressive." I shouted down. If I was going to die, I was going to do it my way.

"Get her Cato." I heard Clove, the one with the knives, scream up the tree. "Come on, kill her."

He threw the bow and arrow back at Glimmer, then started to climb the tree. He made it about three feet when the branch he was holding on to snapped, and he collapsed to the ground. The group grumbled, then I heard a fifth voice call out from below me.

"What's going on?" It was Serena, the plant tribute from district four. I leaned my head back and groaned. She said she wasn't good with a bow, but I either didn't believe her or knew that she was able to climb a tree better than the rest of them. If I hadn't been dead before, I was now.

"Twelve's in a tree. None of us know how to use this though." Glimmer held up the bow.

Serena reached her hand out. "They're teaching you well in those academies I see."

Glimmer handed her the bow and arrow dutifully, despite the fact that Serena hadn't asked. She slung the quiver around her torso and held the bow outstretched with one hand.

"Why are you bullying district twelve? Don't you have something better to hunt?"

"She got an eleven." Cato said. "Same as you." He poked Serena in the chest. "So help us out. Kill your competition, huh? We missed you after the cornucopia, but now that we're all together we can really get down to business."

Serena paused. I could see her staring at him from my spot in the trees. She turned her head up towards me and strung an arrow. I swear I saw her wink.

"I'm going to kill my competition alright." Serena said. She pulled back the arrow and pointed it at Cato's chest. "But since you were so kind and gave me your weapon, I will give you five minutes to run as far as you can."

The careers paused, staring at each other, then back at Serena. I couldn't believe it myself. There was no reason to help me. She could kill me, then go with the careers and win the games easily enough. Instead, she was defending me.

"You think you can take all of us?" Cato asked.

"I do. But if you want to challenge that, be my guest."

Peeta stepped up now, putting his hand on Cato's arm. "Let's just go." He said. I saw the tension in Cato's cheeks. Every part of him wanted to hit Serena right now, but logic seemed to prevail. He started to back away, shaking his head.

"You're going to get it, Ross. This is the wrong decision. No going back." Cato said. "You're dead."

"Sure I am." Serena shouted after them. "That's why you're running."

Cato gave one last malicious look over his shoulder, but I saw Peeta pull him away. The career pack ran off, and I rested my head back against the tree again. I let myself groan now and held my leg tightly. My knuckles turned white, and I felt the pain wrapping around me, consuming me from the inside out.

Now that I didn't have to worry about dying, all I could focus on was my leg. The burn was awful, the skin raw and blackened on the edges.

"Can you get down?" I heard a voice at my side and turned sharply, nearly losing my balance. Serena crouched in a branch next to mine.

I shook my head. Right now I could barely move my leg, let alone climb down this tree. With the adrenaline gone, I was good for nothing.

"Put your arm around my neck." Serena said. I had no reason to trust her, but right now I was in so much pain I didn't have much of a choice.

I roped my arm around her shoulders, and she put hers against my back. "Alright. Lean your weight against me, use your good leg, and we're going to get down."

With a nod, I felt her lift me up by the shoulders. My bad leg dangled, and I whimpered at the pain. Leaning into Serena, I let her carry me down branch by branch until we finally reached the forest floor. As soon as we touched down, I collapsed against the back wall.

Serena was staring at my leg, frowning.

"You're really not reassuring me with that look." I said.

"It's a bad burn. We need something to heal it, and there are no plants in these woods that will do that."

I took several deep breaths. "Why are you helping me?" I said.

Serena grinned. "What can I say? I like your style, and I'm a sucker for underdogs."

Just then, a small box floated down from the sky and landed a few feet away. It was attached to a parachute, and Serena scrambled over to it.

"What is that?" I asked as she popped the lid open.

"A gift, from a sponsor." She said. Her eyes glanced over piece of paper. "Your sponsor."

"What does it say?"

"Looks like you finally learned how to make friends." Serena read. "-H."

Haymitch. I leaned against the tree and almost laughed, but it came out as more of a cry. Serena was back at my side, kneeling in the leaves with a canister in her hands. She took off her jacket and ripped a part of her sleeve off, rolling it into a log shape. When she handed it to me, I shrugged.

"What do I do with this?"

"Bite down on it." Serena said. She reached over and widened the hole in my pant leg. "You really don't want to bite your own tongue off." When I didn't move, she looked right at me, her green eyes serious, "Do it."

As soon as I put the rag in my mouth, Serena opened the canister. She scooped out some gelatinous liquid. With one arm, she held down my leg, then she put the medicine over my burn, and I understood the need for the rag.

After a few agonizing minutes, it was over. The burning turned to a slow cooling sensation, and I thanked Haymitch again. When I finally regained my bearings, I turned to Serena, who sat against a tree opposite me, turning a knife over in her hands.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"Now," Serena stuck the knife in her belt and stood up, holding a hand out to me, "now we survive."


	4. Chapter 4

Katniss' POV

I considered myself to be in pretty good shape up until this point. Then again, I had to give myself credit for trekking through miles of dense forest with a limp and a cut on my head, suffering from dehydration and starving from a lack of actual nutritious food. Given all of that, I'd say my ability to still be breathing right now was something to be celebrated.

Serena, on the other hand, seemed to have no issue with climbing up steep hills and jumping over bogs and logs and whatever else was out there. There was no way I was going to be the one to slow down first, so I choked down an argument and followed in her footsteps, my right print always heavier than my left.

"We should stop." Serena said, looking up at the sky. "Set up camp for the night, start a fire, cook something. You know, the usual."

"Yeah, right," I put my hands on my knees. "Usual. Because everything about this is usual."

Serena smiled. "You're funny, twelve. That's good. It'll keep our minds off things."  
I was about to say that funny was a compliment I had never been given before, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I needed Serena to need me around, and any little reason to convince her would help me. Five hours into our journey, and I still wasn't sure why she had picked me as her partner.

Before we even left the sight where she rescued me, I had been skeptical. After all, I had made no moves to create alliances while I was in training. I was pretty sure Haymitch hadn't set anything up, considering he seemed as surprised by it as I was. Then again, we were getting sponsors already, so that seemed like a good sign.

"We should head that way." Serena had said, point opposite of where the careers had gone. "They'll come back for us. Their egos are way to large to just let us go."

"Why should I trust you?" I asked, using the tree to pull myself up to my feet. The burn was already starting to feel better, and I was able to bear some weight on my injured leg.

Serena paused and put her hand on her hip, looking off into the treeline, then back at me. A smirk crossed her face, one I would end up seeing a lot over the course of our time together. She had this ease about her, a dangerous confidence mixed with an air of dignity and awe. This girl was like a machine, or at least I had thought so. But she had changed the rules, picked me as her ally, saved me from the careers.

"Trust me, twelve. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead." She said. Then she headed off into the woods.

As we stopped now to set up camp, her words rang in my head. She was right, after all. This girl was strong, fast, smart, created and engineered to win these games. Maybe I could hit her from a distance with my bow, but up close she had me. If Serena Ross wanted me dead, I would be dead. So I had to make sure she wanted to keep me alive, at least until I decided if I wanted to escape.

"You ever hunt before?" She said, gesturing to the bow as she cleared a small patch of leaves from the ground.

I swallowed hard, thinking of my days in the woods, and shook my head "no". I wasn't about to admit that I had been illegally hunting in the woods outside twelve for as long as I could hunt a bow. This was a nationally televised event. Whatever happened to me in here, I wouldn't let my family suffer for it. Or Gale, who they would most likely find out about.

Serena winked. "Well you'd better start then. Find us like…a squirrel or something, if they're even here. I'll set up the fire and secure the perimeter."

Nodding, I headed off into the woods near our camp, careful to be as silent as possible. Out here, hunting for food, hunting for survival with just my bow and my senses to guide me, I felt at ease for the first time in days. Part of me wanted to believe Serena was part of that. Somehow being her partner in crime, or whatever I was to her, made me an asset. It also made me dangerous, and I could use a little bit of that to back up the high score I had received before the games even started. Everyone perceived me as a threat, and before I hadn't really been one. Sure I could shoot, but I wasn't a career. Now I was better than a career. I was good enough for Serena, which meant I was good enough to win.

The thought of winning made my stomach turn. I didn't want to think about it. I wanted to go about it one day at a time. Before it was over, I would have to kill. I wasn't in denial about that. A rabbit moved into my vision and I hit it with one arrow, through the eye. When I went to pick it up, I looked back towards the camp site. If Serena was my ally, there would come a time when we would either have to kill each other, or watch the other die. I hoped it was the later.

After bagging another rabbit, I turned back to the fire. When I dumped my catch on the ground, Serena looked up.

"Nice job, newbie." She said. "If it weren't illegal, I'd say you should take up hunting for sport."

"Sport?"

"Yeah, you know, for fun. As a hobby, whatever." She put a stick through one rabbit and set it on the spit she had put above the fire.

I sat down on the ground and hugged my knees to my chest. It was starting to get dark, which meant it was getting a little colder. The fire was nice and warm, blazing up and illuminating our faces. Serena and I watched our dinner cook in silence for a while.

"So what do you do for fun?" She said. "Besides shoot arrows at a stump all day."

I shrugged. "I take care of my family, go to school, eat when there's food."

"When there's food?"

"Yeah. I mean, every once and a while we'll go a day or two without, whatever. It happens. Then there's always more. I can always get more."

Serena paused for a second. She had been brought up in district four, and I had a feeling she had lived a life filled with certain luxuries. To break the tension, I spoke up.

"What do you do? For fun."

"O you know, kill other children." She swept her hands around. When I frowned, she shook her head. "Kidding, twelve. It was a joke. I swim. I've always swam, at least for as long as I can remember. It takes a lot to exhaust me, so when I go out in the ocean, I just stay out for hours. Something about the water soothes me."

Serena took one rabbit off and handed it to me, then put the other on for herself. I had always thought I would humanize myself so it would be harder for her to kill me, but now she was the one asking questions.

"At least it was my happy place." She said, sitting back. "Before I came here. Not sure I'll have a happy place after."

"You think it'll change you?"

"How can it not?" Serena said. "Whoever wins this thing will be just as damaged as whoever loses it. The last person standing is just the one with the worst scar. You can't get out of here unscathed."

"You make it sound like someone else could possibly win this thing." I took a bite of rabbit and raised my eyebrows. "Here I thought you were the supreme queen of the arena."

"O I am. But you could still murder me in my sleep." She smirked as she said it. "So I can't be over confident."

I was about to answer, when she spoke again. "So since we're playing twenty questions already, I'll keep it rolling. What's the deal with you and blondie?"

"Peeta?"

I bit my lip as I thought about how to answer that. Haymitch had carefully played out this whole star-crossed lovers thing, and I didn't want to interfere with whatever sponsors we had gained from it. There was no safe way to go about this. Especially now that I had seen Peeta with the careers, had seen him murder an innocent kid.

"We've always gone to the same school. He's always sort of been there." I shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't realize he felt…" I paused. I could hear Haymitch in my head, telling me to play it up. "He felt the same way about me until I got here."

"Really?" Serena narrowed her eyes. "So all that love stuff is true?"

I shook my head. "I'm only sixteen. I have no idea what love is." The crowd and my head let out a sigh of disappointment. I had to compensate. "But who knows. Maybe I will when this is all over."

"Maybe." Serena echoed. "So now its your turn." I raised my eyebrows. "To ask a question twelve. Learn how to play the game."

My head swam with questions about Serena. Most of them were about to games, questions of survival or how she had gotten here or if she was going to kill me. Surprisingly, some questions popped up about her personal life. For some reason, I was compelled to know where she was from, what her family was like. I wasn't a people person. This wasn't the kind of thing I normally cared about. Then again, other kids my age usually ignored me, but she seemed interested.

"What are we going to do if its just the two of us?" I asked. "If we're the only ones left."

"Depends." Serena said.

"On what?"

"If you like me or not."

I paused again, throwing the rest of my rabbit to the side and chewing carefully. There was more weight in this question that Sydney's smirk let on.

"Well, I'm not going to kill you in your sleep." I said. "So there's that."

"Alright then." Serna leaned back on her palms. "Then if its just us…we'll break apart. Walk to opposite ends of the arena and reset the games, play like we should be playing. Let the best woman win."

Swallowing hard, I tried to think of an answer to that. If it came to it, I was surely going to lose. Serena was trained to win this thing. And now I was starting to want to be her friend, so I didn't want anyone else to kill her. I was regretting the decision to follow her a little more with every step.

"So you volunteered for your sister?" Sydney said. "What's she like?"

"Prim is—" I stopped. Serena really wanted to know me. I had never been the sit around a camp fire and talk about our feelings type. Now I was doing just that, but I decided to roll with it, reasoning that I was just letting Serena know I was human. I was giving her more reasons not to kill me. "She's fantastic. Innocent and sweet, truly kind. She's the nicest person you'd ever meet."

And I just kept talking, about Prim and her goat and my family and my life at home. The sky darkened and the birds quieted, and Serena and I just talked. I found out she was from a wealthy family, her father owned a business and her mother was a philanthropist, which Serena said was a fancy word for housewife who used all the credit cards and did zero work. She had an older brother, Jacob, who she adored. No boyfriends to speak of, as she referred to men as "there to get the job done."

I had never spent time talking to someone like this. Gale and I just sort of fell together, like we knew each other without speaking. We were friends, but we were also both the silent type, and I couldn't escape the awkwardness that came from a male/female friendship. There were levels we couldn't get to, levels that I caught when Serena seemed sad about my father's death and sympathized with the way my mother acted. By the end of it all, I had to call Serena Ross my friend. Anything else would be an injustice, but this was a death sentence. She turned to the sky and laughed as hard as she could, and I tried to imagine myself shooting an arrow through her heart. For the first time, I couldn't do it, and I felt a chill run down my spine.

"So what made you choose me? Really. No 'I like your style' stuff. Why did you pick me as your ally?"

Serena paused. "Your different. I see…similarities between us. Plus, I can't stand the careers. They think this is a game. They think its fun. They don't see the Capitol manipulating them, pulling them and pushing them like chess pieces on a giant checkered board. When I saw you volunteer for your sister—" she trailed off "that's bravery. True bravery. You knew there was a chance you would die, but you would rather it be you than her. That's how I am with my brother. I guess I just really did like your style. You know how to love, and that is way more important in an ally than the ability to hate."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Because it means that you won't kill me in my sleep. It means that when you make a commitment, you stick to it. It means that I can trust you with my life."

Serena laid back. "Do you really think you could kill me, in the end?" I asked.

For a while she was silent. "That's your twenty first question, twelve." She said. "So I guess this is goodnight."


End file.
